safety lamp
- noun
- /ˈseɪfti læmp/
- Archaic
:
lámpara de seguridad
- Before entering the mine, each worker checked their safety lamp to ensure it was functioning properly.
Examples
-
Miners carry a safety lamp to light their way and detect dangerous gases.
-
The roof was lit by safety lamps and the moon.
Fiction book (1991) -
The safety lamp prevented explosions by providing a flame that did not ignite flammable gases.
Synonyms
A safety oil lamp used in mines to prevent gas explosions
How Safe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'safety' (protection from danger) + 'lamp' (light source) yields a lamp intended to provide safety or be safe to use. A B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably infer it is a lamp designed to prevent hazards (e.g., ignition in dangerous atmospheres), and this noun+noun compounding is a common, cross-linguistic pattern.
Etymology
Safety lamp comes from 19th-century coal mining. Miners needed a lamp that would not light the dangerous gas underground, so inventors put the flame inside a metal cage to stop sparks. So a safety lamp was a lamp made to 'protect' miners and to 'show' when gas was near.